Wilde Lake got nine points from junior Brandon McCreary, and benefited from a solid effort from sophomore forward Bill Hawken, who made his first start. He and Tim Hawken are brothers.

Tim Hawken's overtime effort spoiled a valiant South Carroll fourth-quarter comeback. South Carroll (2-2) trailed, 47-39, in the fourth quarter. But the Cavaliers rallied to tie, 48-48, in regulation.

John Ely, who led all scorers with 30 points, scored seven of South Carroll's final nine points in regulation time. However, he missed two free throws with 37 seconds left in regulation, and then threw the ball away after taking an inbounds pass with six seconds left. For the night, Ely shot 11-for-20 from the floor, and 3-for-7 at the foul line.

"It wasn't his fault we lost," Cavaliers coach Jim Carnes said. "Without him, we wouldn't even have been in the game."

South Carroll played without its starting point guard, Aaron Dorsey, who has a sprained ankle and will miss 10 days.

The Cavaliers made two costly turnovers on their first two possessions of overtime, and fell behind, 54-48. Wilde Lake shot 5-for-5 from the floor in overtime.

South Carroll trailed the entire first half, and went ahead briefly in the third quarter, 35-34, before falling behind again.

"We knew it would be a tough game," Carnes said. "Wilde Lake doesn't let you run a set offense. They double-team you and gamble. No one else has gotten after us like that. They did a nice job."

Wilde Lake had been averaging 35 turnovers, but cut it to 21 last night. South Carroll made 25 turnovers.

The Cavaliers got a big night from John Luster, who scored only four points but had 11 rebounds, eight assists and six steals.

"We needed a win," said Wildecats coach Lester Clay, who rarely substituted. "I had to bench one starter, one player was suspended, one didn't come to school today and one is coming off a concussion, so I couldn't play him much. We were lucky to win."

Roland Park tops Gators

Sixth-ranked Roland Park knocked off another perennial power yesterday in what is quickly becoming a breakthrough season for the Reds.

Roland Park (6-1) went 21-3 last season, but it did not beat a ranked team and was soundly defeated twice by rival McDonogh. The Reds already had scored an upset win over Bladensburg's Elizabeth Seton, which was then the top-ranked team in the state, earlier this season.

Guard Meghan Allan (team-high 14 points) helped to keep the Gators close by making four three-pointers.